A Bond Of Shade: September 02
by Aquailita
Summary: Summary: September 02. Ryou's birthday. The 10 year anniversary of the day Ryou became Bakura's host. The 1 year anniversary of the day the two of them officially became lovers. Why is Ryou having a breakdown on such a special day? Tendershipping one-shot, written for Ryou's birthday.


A Bond Of Shade: September 02

Summary: September 02. Ryou's birthday. The 10 year anniversary of the day Ryou became Bakura's host. The 1 year anniversary of the day the two of them officially became lovers. Why is Ryou having a breakdown on such a special day? Tendershipping one-shot, written for Ryou's birthday.

Characters: Ryou Bakura & Yami Bakura

Genre: Romance & Hurt/Comfort

Rating: K+

* * *

**HELLO EVERYONE!**

**This is a tendershipping oneshot written for Ryou's birthday. I had this idea for a while, and I decided to turn it into a oneshot for his birthday since I don't plan to draw anything for the occasion. (because although I may be good-ish at drawing, I'm not good enough to draw anything really special)**

**Also, it's because I don't have enough tendershipping fanfics compared to the number of thiefshipping fanfics I have written, especially abridged ones.**

**The POVs and tenses get a bit weird, but bear with them because they're all symbolic in some way.  
If you catch any errors in this, feel free to tell me because I want this to be as perfect as possible! Because Ryou and Bakura are my favorite YGO characters!**

**I hope you enjoy this, and happy birthday, Ryou! And Bakura as well.**

_I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or any of its characters/trademarks._

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

Ryou wakes up and slowly opens his eyes. After a few seconds, he sits up in bed and stretches.

"Good morning..." he starts to say...

...until he notices that he is in his soul room instead of his bedroom.

"...Bakura?!" he shouts in surprise.

Ryou rubs his eyes, just in case he is seeing things. But he isn't. He really _is_ in his soul room.

"What did he do now?" Ryou asks with a groan as he lays back down.

_Today is a special day. Certainly not a day to be stuck in his soul room while his yami/partner does who knows what with their body. It is September 2. Not only is it Ryou's birthday, it is also the 10-year anniversary of the day the two of them met for the first time, the day their bond and mind link was formed. This day also marks the anniversary of their _other_ relationship was formed. The romantic one. Ryou and Bakura have been together, as lovers, for exactly one whole year._

And apparently the spirit has locked Ryou in his soul room.

Or has he?

Ryou gets out of the bed in his soul room, which is identical to the one in his bedroom, and walks over to the door. As he nears, he notices a note taped to the door. Instead of trying the doorknob to see if it's locked, Ryou reaches for the note and reads it.

"Ryou," it says, "Happy Birthday. And happy anniversary. _Both_ anniversaries. To mark the occasion, I've decided to 'get the bloody hell off my lazy ass and do something productive with my existence for once'—as you put it—and do something nice for you. You're welcome. Stay in your soul room because it's a surprise. If you leave, I'll murder your soul, decapitate it, and hang your head on the wall in my soul room. See you later today. Love, Bakura"

Ryou laughs as he folds up the note and walks back over to the bed with it. "Oh, Bakura," Ryou says aloud. "That joke stopped being funny last year."

_Bakura _still_ makes such threats to Ryou, but now they are meant in a loving and joking way and _never_ meant literally._

Either way, there would be no point in leaving until Bakura came to get him. With the way he worded his mock "threat", Ryou knows that Bakura has locked the door and would come and get him when it was time.

There is nothing to do except for wait. Luckily for Ryou, his personality is interesting enough that he has an interesting enough soul room to occupy him and pass the time in.

* * *

**~Later~**

Bakura walked back in Ryou's apartment, his arms full with bags and a box or two.

He ran to the kitchen and put everything down. Then with an annoys huff, he took half of the bags to Ryou's room and put their contents where they were supposed to go. Then he dealt with the stuff in the kitchen.

"If it wasn't the kid's birthday," Bakura said as he put something in the fridge, "he would owe me a _lot_ for all of this trouble I'm going through." Then he smirked. "Though it _is_ our anniversary. He owes me a little something, anyway."

Working fast, Bakura was ready after only five more minutes.

He moved over to the couch and sat down. "Time to go get Ryou," he said as he relaxed his mind and concentrated on his mind and soul. His and Ryou's soul hallway, to be exact.

A few second later, he opened his eyes and found himself on his feet, staring down a hallway that was dimly lit by an unknown light source and faded into darkness several meters in either direction.

To his left was his soul room door, which was cracked open slightly, indicating that he was currently in control of their body. To his right was Ryou's soul room door, which was closed and locked from the outside, but not with any physical key.

Bakura walked up to Ryou's soul room door and put his hand near the doorknob. He spread out his fingers and aimed his palm at the knob. He concentrated for a second. A moment later, he heard a quiet click and sensed that the door was now unlocked.

He grabbed the knob and turned it, then pushed the door open.

"Ryou?" he called out. He looked around the room for his hikari. But Ryou was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is..." he began to say.

Then all of a sudden, he was attacked from behind and pushed to the ground. If Bakura didn't know where he was and know that there was only one person it could be, he would have automatically attacked them right back and broken one of their bones. But that didn't mean he still wasn't completely surprised.

"AAAHHH!" he cried as thin pale arms wrapped around him.

He heard a giggle as he and Ryou crashed to the floor. Ryou's arms loosened their hold on Bakura so he could turn around and face him. "Ry—"

Before he could say the second syllable, Ryou's lips gently met Bakura's and swallowed the sound.

A muffled cry of protest was heard from Bakura, before his eyes closed and his arms wrapped around his hikari. Just as he was starting to enjoy himself, Ryou ended the kiss and smiled at him. He opened his eyes. "Happy anniversary!" Ryou said cheerfully.

Bakura smiled back and ruffled Ryou's hair. "And happy birthday."

"Thanks. Are you done with whatever you were doing in my body this morning?"

"This morning? It's still morning. And yes, I have."

Ryou blinked rapidly in surprise. "_Still_ morning? Really? Did you wake up early or have I been in here for not that long?"

"More like you woke up late. Get off me, please." Ryou hesitated for only a second, but that was enough for Bakura. The spirit smirked and wrapped his arms around Ryou's waist. "Unless you'd like to give me my anniversary gift now..."

Ryou pushed himself out of his yami's grasp and off of him. He got to his feet and shook his head. He was blushing. "N-no. Not now." Bakura got to his feet as well. "So what _have_ you been doing?"

"You'll see. Take control of your body and I'll show you. See you there."

Ryou nodded and ran out of the room.

Bakura shook his head and sighed. Although Ryou was usually a laid-back and calm person, he had the tendency to be a little hyper and excited whenever they were together. It didn't really bother Bakura much, but it sometimes got tiring trying to keep up with him.

Bakura ran out of the room as well, closing the door behind him, but a little slower so Ryou could get ahead of him. Whoever left the hallway first was the one to take over, so if Bakura went ahead he would end up taking over instead of Ryou.

After a few seconds, he picked up speed and followed Ryou out of the hallway the same way he had entered it.

* * *

Ryou opens his eyes and finds himself on the couch. He isn't wearing the Millenium Ring.

_He and the others still have their respective Millenium Items, but the spirits inside the Ring, Puzzle, and Rod are either in their owner's bodies and no longer in the items themselves or they are lost in the Shadow Realm. Bakura is one of the ones in his host's body. He was originally in the Shadow Realm, but Ryou brought him back a year and a week ago. Yami Malik is one of the ones still in the Shadow Realm, as far as anyone besides Malik knows._

From where Ryou is sitting, he can see a bag on the kitchen table.

He turns his attention to a clock on the wall above the couch. It reads 11:47. "So it _is_ still technically morning," Ryou murmurs.

A moment or two later, Bakura appears next to him in his spirit form. "Hi," he says.

Ryou smiles at him and stands up. "Hi."

Hovering an inch or two off the floor, Bakura floats over to the hallway to Ryou's room and motions for Ryou to follow. "Come to your room. What I want you to see first is in there." Bakura disappears into the hallway.

Ryou runs after him and follows close behind.

Bakura floats through the door, while Ryou has to open the door to follow him.

When he gets inside, he finds Bakura on his bed, sitting next to a bunch of folders, pencils, pens, and other school supplies. "Wait a moment..." Ryou says slowly as his eyes pass over the things. "I completely forgot about buying school supplies!"

"I know," Bakura says. "Which is why I took it upon myself to go out and buy everything for you."

Ryou's eyes widen for an instant, then narrow in suspicion. "Wait...you went out and..._bought_ this stuff? You didn't steal any of it?"

"If you're asking me if I used _money_ to get it," Bakura says with a sly smile, "then yes, I actually bought it."

Ryou folds his arms. "That still doesn't tell me if you _stole_ anything or not."

"I need to be more specific?" Bakura asks, feigning innocence.

"Yes," Ryou replies.

Bakura rolls his eyes and sighs as he gets off Ryou's bed and floats over to him. "Fine. I_ didn't _steal anything. I purchased it with actual money. I can show you the receipt if you want."

"No need," Ryou says with a smile. "I trust you." He turns around and faces his bedroom door. "Now what else did you get me?" he asks.

"What makes you think I got you anything else?" Bakura asks.

Ryou smiles wide and takes a step closer to him. "Because you love me too much not to."

"Hm," Bakura says, closing his eyes and turning his head away. "You're right. And you're pretty damn lucky that I do."

"Also," Ryou adds, "I saw a bag on the kitchen table. So I want to know what's in it."

"And you're also pretty damn lucky that you're smart."

"Mmm. More like observant. Now let's go!" Ryou races out of his room, hoping to get to the kitchen before Bakura.

But once he leaves the hallway, he finds that Bakura has already teleported there.

He is "leaning" on the kitchen table (without actually touching it physically) with a small smile on his face.

"Go for it," he says as Ryou reaches the kitchen, indicating the plastic bag with a sweep of his hand. "Trust me, you're going to want to."

Ryou briefly wonders what Bakura means by that, then he simply opens the bag and looks inside.

It is a medium-sized brown box with the logo for the local bakery on it. Ryou can't see what's inside, but he has a feeling he might know what it is...

He takes the box out of the bag and takes the lid off the box, slowly in anticipation.

He gasps at what's inside. He blinks a few times to make sure he isn't mistaken. But he isn't.

When he looks at Bakura with a questioning and disbelieving expression on his face, Bakura's nod confirms it. "Yep," Bakura says. "Those really expensive and very well-made triple-layered chocolate-filled cream puffs you wanted to buy the other day, but didn't have enough money to. _Several_ of them."

"B-Bakura," Ryou stutters. "Y-you really..."

Bakura's smile widens. "I did."

"You didn't actually _buy_ these, did you?"

"Would you be upset if I didn't?"

"No," Ryou admits. "I'm just too..." He begins looking back and forth between Bakura and the cream puffs. "I don't even... I can't..."

"Go ahead and have one," Bakura says. "I know you want to."

Ryou _does_ want to. But it takes all of his will to take the lid and put it back on the box. "No. I'll save them for later. You can even have one if you want."

Bakura's eyes widen in surprise. "Really?" he asks. "Wow. It must be taking all of your self control to not pig out already."

Ryou laughs at that. "Believe me, it took a _lot_ of self control to do that. And I'm not you. I don't 'pig out'."

Bakura gives him a knowing look. "Don't lie. You do. _Especially_ when it comes to sweets. You practically inhale anything that has sugar in it."

"I do not!" Ryou cries.

"Yes you do," Bakura insists.

"No I don't."

"Uh, yeah you do. I've seen you."

"When I was younger. I don't anymore."

"You still do."

"No! I don't!"

"I thought you weren't me."

"I'm not."

"So then why are you lying so much?"

"I'm being totally honest."

"Liar."

"Thief."

"I thought you didn't care."

"I don't care that you stole the cream puffs. I never said I wasn't bothered by the fact that you're a thief."

Ryou suddenly realizes that as they had been talking, Ryou has been leaning forward and Bakura has been moving closer to him and is now hovering above the table. Their faces are only a few inches apart. If they were in their soul rooms or hallway, they would have spontaneously kissed at that moment.

"I'm giving you the biggest hug ever when we get back to our hallway," Ryou says in a quiet voice.

"Just a hug?" Bakura asks disappointingly, his voice just as quiet.

Ryou laughs quietly. "You can have more of me later tonight. Maybe."

"You'd better. It _is_ our anniversary after all."

"I know. I was planning to."

Bakura's eyes widen in realization. He straightens up and moves next to Ryou. "Wait a moment! Is that why you've been ignoring me this week whenever I asked?!"

Ryou averts his gaze and shrugs, a devious smile on his face. "Maaaayyyyybe?" he says.

Bakura narrows his eyes at his hikari. "You were doing that on purpose, weren't you?"

Ryou meets Bakura's eyes again and says, "I'm evil. Aren't I?"

Bakura smirks. "You are. But only because you learned from the best."

Ryou rolls his eyes. "Oh, don't you start with that again. About how I've picked up on your bad habits just because of how long we've been together. I have_ not_."

"Well it's hard to believe, with how much you're lying today."

"I am not!" Ryou shouts.

"Keep telling yourself that," Bakura says.

Ryou laughs again.

He wishes he could hug the spirit standing next to him, but remembers why he can't. He sighs. "It sucks that we don't have separate bodies," Ryou says.

Bakura frowns. "I know," he says with a sigh. He wraps his arms around Ryou and plants a gentle and ghostly kiss on his forehead.

Somehow, Ryou can feel it. Not Bakura, but the kiss itself. The same goes for the hug. Although Ryou can't feel his partner's arms, he can still feel the embrace intended by them.

_Neither of them knows or understands why or how this is possible. But whatever the reason, they are grateful for it._

"Someday, perhaps," Ryou says quietly.

Ryou takes a step away from Bakura, and Bakura lowers his arms and takes a "step" back as well. "I'm going to go put the school stuff away," he says. "You can watch if you want, however boring that would be."

Bakura shrugs. "I don't mind. I'll be paying more attention to _you_ than what you're doing, anyway."

Ryou let's out a laugh. "Oh, Bakura..." he doesn't finish his sentence and continues walking away.

* * *

As Bakura watched Ryou walk away from him, he noticed a bulge in Ryou's back pocket, where he had put Ryou's cell phone before leaving the apartment that morning. It reminded him of the message he had heard that morning...

"By the way!" Bakura suddenly called out.

Ryou stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Hm?"

"Yugi called earlier," Bakura said with a frown on his face. "He has something for you, and you should stop by the game shop later to pick it up."

Although Bakura was frowning, Ryou was smiling. "Really? That's great. I'll be sure to stop by later around lunchtime...which I just remembered is around now." Ryou looked down. "Wow. I really _did_ wake up late. I've only been up for about half an hour in real time and an hour in my soul room."

_Time runs differently in different soul rooms. Time in Ryou's soul room runs almost exactly as fast as time in the real world runs, while time in Bakura's soul room runs _much_ slower than time in the real world, so an hour can pass in there while only a minute passes in the real world._

Ryou looked up and saw Bakura's face. His frown had deepened. Ryou's smile faded slightly. "What did you say to Yugi?" he asked.

"Nothing," Bakura replied. "I didn't answer. He left a message."

Ryou frowned. "But why didn't you answer? We have caller ID, and Yugi's name always shows up when he calls. You knew who it was."

"I know. That's why I didn't answer."

Ryou sighed and smiled faintly. He walked back over to Bakura, then raised his hand to meet the side of Bakura's face. "Bakura, Yugi is still my friend. You know that I still hang out with him. I know that you don't get along with him, but you're going to have to get over your grudge and learn to deal with him."

Bakura "hmphed" and looked away. He also folded his arms.

Ryou walked over to him with an adorable and pleading smile on his face. "Pleeeaaassseee?" Ryou asked sweetly. " Try today? For me? After all, it _is_ my birthday today."

Bakura looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Did you seriously just play the 'It's my birthday' card? And with me, no less?"

Ryou smiled even sweeter. "Perhaps," he replied.

"Hmph. I was wondering when you were going to use it..."

"Is that a yes?" Ryou asked hopefully.

"No. It isn't," Bakura replied.

"Please?"

"'Yes' to what, exactly?"

"To dealing with Yugi when we visit him. We can have lunch over there."

Bakura's eyes widened, then narrowed in annoyance. "Ugh. Do we have—"

"Yes," Ryou said sternly. "We have to. I'll get ready now. It's already lunchtime and I'm hungry."

Ryou turned around again and continued heading for his room.

Bakura stayed where he was. "I'll be in my soul room," he called out. "Let me know when you're ready."

Ryou turned around briefly and nodded. "Okay," he said.

The next moment, Bakura disappeared from sight, going back into their soul hallway, then into his soul room.

* * *

**~Later~**

After putting the school supplies away, Ryou had left for the game shop.

When Ryou arrived, he had found more than just a little gift from Yugi. He had been surprised to also see Joey, Tristan, and Téa. And they had _all_ bought something for his birthday. Yugi had bought him three super rare Monster World figures, ones that Ryou had been looking for since last year. Joey had bought him a book he had caught Ryou reading in the library and had found out Ryou is a huge fan of the series it was in. Tristan and Téa aren't as close to Ryou as Yugi and Joey are, and only hang out with him because of them, so they had been a bit more indecisive about what to get him. But in the end, with help from Yugi, they had decided. Téa had gotten him a gift card for a clothing store that Yugi knows he usually shops at. Tristan had been the most clueless, so he simply opted to get Ryou several Duel Monsters cards. Ryou already owns one or two of the cards Tristan had given him, but he was thankful for them anyway.

As Ryou had hoped, he was able to have lunch with Yugi and the others. It was a pretty casual get-together in itself. Other than the fact that it was Ryou's birthday and they had given him gifts when he had arrived, it didn't feel like anything special.

Bakura stayed in his soul room the entire time, watching through Ryou's eyes. Ryou had wished that Bakura would come out and talk to him and be there with him, but he supposed that he could only ask so much of the already-reluctant spirit. It would have been pointless anyway, because it's not like Yugi can see him.

_Ryou always wonders why. He has always assumed that Yugi would be able to see Bakura because they both have Millenium Items, but that isn't the case._

They are just coming back, Ryou holding a bag that Yugi had given him to carry his gifts in.

The moment the door has been closed behind Ryou, Bakura appears next to him in his spirit form. "That was annoying," he says, "but surprisingly tolerable."

Ryou rolls his eyes and smiles as he takes of his shoes, hangs his keys on a little hook next to the door, and begins walking to the hallway. "Ugh. Well at least you didn't bother me about how bored you were."

"I wasn't bored," Bakura says as he follows close behind. "I was just...without anything to do. Which annoyed me. But like I said, it was tolerable. I'm surprised they actually got you anything."

"They _are_ my friends," Ryou reminds him. "They _do_ know and care enough about me to get me something nice for my birthday."

Bakura suddenly rushes forward and moves directly in front of Ryou and looks him dead in the eye. "I know you better and I care about you more."

Ryou stops dead in his tracks. He gives Bakura a reassuring smile. "I never said that you had competition," he says with a laugh. "I just said that you're not the only one."

"Hmph. Some competition I have."

"Stop talking about them like that!" Ryou said with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Or you're not getting _your_ present later," he adds with a smirk.

Bakura responds with a smirk of his own. "_Still_ holding out on me?" he asks. "That'll only work for so long."

"It's been working for long enough and I do believe it'll work for another couple of hours. You love me too much for it _not_ to work."

Ryou walks around him and continues heading for his room.

"You got that right," Bakura says as he, too, continues moving.

Ryou opens his bedroom door and enters the room. Bakura follows and throws himself on Ryou's bed.

Ryou begins to put three of his presents away, the gift card, the book, and the cards. He plans to put the three figurines away later in the game room, and simply leaves them on his desk for the time being.

His eyes pass over his desk, making sure he had put everything away and that everything was nice and neat.

Then, Ryou's eyes lock on a specific item on his desk that is still out, but shouldn't be.

He completely freezes in place.

_That item brings back memories to him._

His legs begin to tremble slightly.

_Memories of..._

For a reason unknown to anyone except for him, he suddenly falls to his knees and begins crying uncontrollably.

* * *

Bakura's eyes widened. He teleported himself to his partner's side and wrapped his transparent arms around the crying light. "Ryou!" he shouted in concern. "What's wrong! Why are you...?"

Ryou didn't make any sign that he had heard. He just hugged himself and continued crying.

By instinct, Bakura reached out to Ryou's mind through their bond and attempted to find out the reason for his hikari's sudden breakdown. The moment he felt like he had found something and began to explore it, walls shot up around it and blocked him from reaching it.

Bakura knew what this was. And he wasn't surprised. Behind those walls was something that Ryou had learned how to protect and managed to hide from him since a year after they had first met. By the time Bakura had grown used to Ryou and attached enough to care about the child's past and start investigating it, those walls were already up. Bakura had tried before to get around the walls, but had never succeeded. He didn't know what Ryou was hiding, but Ryou was doing a terrific job of hiding it. Bakura knew that what was behind his wall was the cause of his breakdown, as it had been the cause of similar breakdowns that Ryou had had before. Whatever was behind there was just as trapped behind the walls as Bakura was trapped outside of them. So were the emotions that came with it, whatever emotions those were. But whatever they were, they were trapped behind that wall and unable to get out. Emotions build over time, if they aren't released. So whatever Ryou was hiding, the emotions he felt towards it were always building up behind that wall, eventually overflowing and causing him to occasionally have breakdowns like the one he was currently having.

Bakura retreated from their mind and returned to reality. Ryou was still crying hysterically, on his knees, hugging himself tightly.

Bakura couldn't do anything about what was _causing_ them, because what was causing them was hidden from him. But he _could_ calm Ryou down and help him get over it faster. In the early years of their relationship, he had simply ignored these breakdowns because he knew that his host was strong enough to overcome it and get over it himself, and he honestly didn't really care _that_ much about helping him through them. In recent years, especially the past year, Bakura actually helped Ryou by comforting him and helping it pass faster.

But this took time. Comforting only worked so fast. Bakura didn't think it was right for Ryou to be feeling this way on such an important and meaningful day, but he had no idea how long Ryou would be like this.

Bakura hugged the crying light as much as he could in his intangible state. He tried shushing Ryou, but unsurprisingly it didn't work.

There was one thing Bakura could do that he knew would calm Ryou down instantly. He wouldn't hesitate to do it.

Bakura let go of Ryou and put his hands on the hikari's shoulders. "Ryou," he said, his voice filled with worry. "Look at me."

Ryou opened his eyes and attempted to look Bakura in the eyes, but he quickly closed them and bowed his head again.

"Listen to me," Bakura said. "Do you want me to...do that thing?"

Ryou instantly quieted, the tears still falling silently. He opened his eyes and looked Bakura in the eyes, this time holding his gaze for longer. "Wh-wh-what?" he stuttered. "Y-y-you mean th-th-the merge thing?"

Bakura nodded slowly. "Yes. That."

Ryou closed his eyes again and nodded. "Y-y-yes! Pl-pl-please!"

"Alright," Bakura said calmly. "But I need you to stand up. Can you manage that?"

Ryou nodded again. He stood up straight, shaking a bit as he did, and moved over to the wall next to the door. He put his feet about a foot apart and held his hands straight at his sides. He leaned against the wall, but stood up completely straight. He still had his eyes closed, but held his head up high. His tears continued falling uncontrollably, but he kept quiet and calm.

"G-g-go ahead," he said. "I'm ready."

Bakura nodded. He moved in front of Ryou and stood at eye-level with him.

As he began to walk forward, Ryou's eyes shot open.

* * *

Bakura moves close to him. He puts his hands over Ryou's and moves closer. Now they are barely a centimeter away from each other, but Bakura steps closer still, moving slowly now.

Then they touch. Bakura's transparent form begins to enter Ryou's physical body. Ryou can almost feel the spirit entering him slowly.

Bakura continues moving.

Ryou is now completely still and silent, save for his breathing and blinking. A moment later, Bakura is so far in that he is up against the wall. Bakura quickly lets go of Ryou's hands and turns around so that his form and Ryou's body are lined up perfectly.

Their hearts are now perfectly aligned.

Both of them concentrate hard on reaching the other through their mind link. They reach out with their minds. They make contact.

Then, _it_ happens. The merge begins.

All walls and defenses in either of their minds instantly fall. All alarms and traps immediately deactivate. Their soul room doors fly open. Their bond and mind link is wide open.

Their minds and hearts begin intertwining. Everything about them swirls and mixes and mingles with everything else. Their souls intertwine. All of their memories and emotions and thoughts and feelings and experiences combine and are shared with the other. Everything is exposed and visible, thrown out into the open for the other to see.

Both of them are completely vulnerable as their souls begin merging. Were you to be in their soul hallway, you would see a strange sight. Their soul rooms would literally be coming together and merging into one room.

What was once an endless hallway with two rooms on either side of it becomes a hallway leading to a single room.

They were literally becoming one.

What was happening at that moment was similar to their spirits having sex in their soul rooms. But yet it was _much_ different. This was more of a mental and spiritual feeling than an emotional and physical feeling. It felt like their _souls_ were embracing each other and becoming one entity.

Literally.

~•~

What Ryou saw was everything that Bakura went through in all of his existence. Everything the spirit has been through—the deaths, the murders, the massacres, the robberies. The heists, the Shadow Games, the other tragedies and horrors that Yami Bakura has been through—were all being shown to Ryou in the span of only a few seconds, then being shown to him again in the same amount of time, then again and again.

With all that Bakura has been through over the millennia, most mortals would go insane if they were shown all of that in only a few seconds. The overload would break their sanity faster than a twig would be snapped in a thunderstorm.

But not Ryou.

Ryou didn't go insane. Seeing all of that actually_ comforted_ him, and relieved whatever insanity he might or might not have had. He saw what Bakura had been through, and knew that Bakura was still as strong and stable as he had been when all of that had begun. No, he was _stronger_. Was he just as sane, or saner? Probably not. But he was nonetheless stronger and just as stable. Ryou felt bad for Bakura and all that he had been through, and he knew that despite all that had happened to him the spirit was still strong and carrying on. This gave Ryou a positive feeling. He knew that Bakura was strong, and felt proud to have such a person with him, despite all the bad that Bakura had done.

The contrast between that past and the present told Ryou that Bakura could change, and he had changed. Ryou knew that Bakura could atone for his crimes and make up for what he had done.

Ryou was also comforted by the fact that out of all his past hosts and out of all the people that Bakura has met in all the millennia of his existence, Bakura has never fallen in love with anyone...except for him. Ryou knew that he and Bakura were meant to meet, but so were all of those before him. What was different about him was that Bakura grew attached to him and loved and cared about him.

In Ryou's world, where he was almost always alone and even his closest friends didn't seem to care enough about him or never last long enough, the one person who has always been there for him and protected him and cared for him was Bakura. And he knew that Bakura would continue to protect him and care for him. He was capable of doing so and was willing to do so.

~•~

As for Bakura, he is going through a similar experience, but what he is seeing and feeling and thinking is _much_ different.

He is seeing a _lot _less than Ryou is seeing. Ryou's life is _much_ shorter than his existence is, only going back years while Bakura's existence goes back millennia.

He sees everything that has happened to Ryou, from Ryou's perspective. He is hearing and feeling and thinking everything that Ryou felt as all of those things were happening. He sees all the tragedies that the hikari has had to face, including the ones that he himself experienced along with him. But he is re-experiencing them from Ryou's perspective.

It always amazes him how mature Ryou has been, compared to his age, when facing all that he has faces. That maturity came from being faced with tragedy that he faced while he was younger. Bakura doesn't know what happened because Ryou has always kept it hidden from him, and he suspects that that is exactly what Ryou is hiding behind that wall. But Bakura is always impressed by the fact that even after dealing with it so young, Ryou is as strong as he is today.

Despite all that Bakura has done and all the horrors he has witnessed, he is surprised that he has survived them. And he can see that Ryou is also just as surprised and looks up to him for that.

Seeing the world in a new perspective and a new light through Ryou's eyes gives Bakura hope and purpose. His plan for revenge failed over a year ago, and he was left without a purpose. He had turned his back on the light and on humanity, but being with Ryou has forced him to face it again. Seeing the world in the positive light that Ryou saw it in gave him hope that perhaps all was not lost, and even now it gives him hope that there is still a future for him outside of the darkness that he had grown so used to calling home. He has a new home now, with his hikari, who is literally the light of his life.

Although he turned his back on everything, and everyone he knows and has met has turned away from him, Ryou has stayed. Ryou is the only one who cares and can forgive him.

They have done this before. Ryou going through this exchange of their minds and seeing everything that has happened to Bakura was also added to Ryou's experiences. So Bakura is now experiencing what Ryou saw and thought and felt when _he_ saw Bakura's past. Experiencing Ryou's reaction to all of that—and the fact that Ryou still loves him and stays with him and cares about him, despite all that he knows Bakura has done—warms the heart Bakura used to think he had lost centuries ago.

The truth is that Ryou literally completes him. He turned his back on the light when he made the deal with Zork, and Ryou has helped him to turn to that light again and embrace it.

~•~

_They did this several times before, for different reasons. But the result was always the same._

_The first time they did it was exactly a year ago. A _very_ similar situation had occurred, but with the roles reversed. It was _Bakura_ who had had a breakdown. It had probably been caused by the realization that his quest had failed and he now had no real reason to exist anymore. Ryou had pitied Bakura, despite the evil and the darkness that made the spirit who and what he was. Ryou wanted to show Bakura that life was worth living and that he _did_ have a reason to go on, that there _was_ a purpose, that someone_ did_ care, that someone _did_ want him to stay, and that not _everyone_ had turned away from him and given up on him. Ryou hadn't thought that he would be capable of talking the spirit of of...whatever he was going to do to end his own existence._

_So instead, he _showed_ the spirit why he should stay._

_He tried to open up their mind link as much as he could, then tried to force some of his thoughts and feelings and experiences and memories and emotions through it, hoping they would reach Bakura and convince him to change his mind. Bakura had been in control of their body at the time. Ryou also had tried to hug him. But instead, he found himself practically walking into his own body. He felt like he could actually _touch_ Bakura's soul. He felt no resistance, and for a reason he didn't know, he hadn't felt scared at all._

_Then the merge had happened._

_With their emotions exposed and shared so openly, they easily realized that their feelings for each other went beyond their relationship as light and dark, what they felt for each other was love._

_~•~_

Ryou hugged himself tightly, trying to embrace Bakura. Bakura does the same, his movements matching Ryou's exactly as he hugs himself and Ryou at the same time.

For Ryou, doing this for him was the best birthday present Bakura could have ever given him, and not only because he had completely forgotten the reason for his breakdown.

For Bakura, Ryou agreeing to this and composing himself enough to do it (because both of them had to be able and willing in order for it to happen) is the best anniversary present that Ryou could have given him.

But for both of them, the best present that they have been given, and the best gift that life and existence could have given either of them, is the gift of each other.

"Happy Birthday, Ryou."

Bakura whispers, at the exact same time and in the same volume, as Ryou whispered:

"Happy Birthday, Bakura."

* * *

**AAAAWWWW! Wasn't that sweet?  
****And LONG. But hopefully enjoyable, nonetheless!****  
**

**I didn't want to ruin the story with * things, so I'll just put any notes down here. But I did do a LOT of things different with the canons and mind-canons of this story.**

**Yes, I did refer to Hikari Marik as "Malik". This goes against what I believe about the whole Marik-Malik name thing (I believe the hikari should be named "Marik" cuz that's his official name, and the YAMI should be renamed "Malik"). However, I wanted to try something different.  
****From what the story here implies, it is still unclear as to whether Yami is in Yugi's body or in the Shadow Realm. Perhaps he is and perhaps he isn't. Perhaps Ryou doesn't know. Perhaps Yugi knows but isn't telling anyone or even letting anyone know that he knows.  
****Usualy, I make it so that the yamis and hikaris can see each other in their spirit forms because of the fact that they all have Millenium Items. However, I changed that in this story.****  
**

**I plan to do a follow-up story to this. I like the concept that I have laid out here, and the version of the YGO universe I have thought out in this oneshot is interesting to me. I plan to expand on it in other stories. One will be about Malik, one will be about Yugi, and one will be about all three of them. The one about all three of them will be a MUCH larger story.  
****Such stories will say something along the lines of "Set in the 'A Bond Of Shade' universe". Follow me if you are interested in such a series. They will all still have the hikari as "Malik" and the Yami as "Marik", or "Yami Malik". (EVEN THOUGH HIS NAME IS TOTALLY "MARIK" AND NOT "MALIK"!)****  
**

**Anyway, thanks for reading. Especially today and if you aren't one of my followers, because with so many stories that are probably being published on the site today for Ryou's birthday, it is probably annoying to see so many, and choose one to read. Not just on Ryou's birthday, but for any fandom when it's a certain character's birthday. So I thank you for reading mine and I hope you had fun and feelz XD.  
****I also am updating my Yu-Gi-Oh! Hang-Out game place on ROBLOX, all with birthday decorations and rearrangements.  
****I'm also uploading an AMV on YouTube.****  
**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYOU BAKURA, YAMI BAKURA, AND THIEF KING BAKURA!**

**See you next time!**

**BYEEEEEEE~!**


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